The U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,517 discloses an apparatus for processing tissue samples. On a rotatable table a plurality of processing containers are provided for the sample processing. The table is rotatable, so that the processing containers can be transported to a processing station, at which the tissue samples are successively immersed in different processing liquids. For a suitable tempering of the actually used processing liquids a heating and cooling device is permanently mounted to the housing of the apparatus. The table is not only rotatable but also raisable and lowerable in the direction of the axle. The processing containers are only snapped into recesses of the transport table. A firm and defined placement of the processing containers on the table is not provided.
For tissue processing for the tissue embedding the RMC™ and the LYNX™ tissue processor uses containers that have a cylindrical side wall and do not have openings for the entering or exiting of processing liquid. Next to the side wall there is a conical part that is getting narrower and narrower compared to the part with the cylindrical side wall. The conical part of the side wall is provided with corresponding elongated openings that make the entering and exiting of the processing liquids possible. If the containers are stacked, then each container is to be provided with a cover in order to ensure that no parts of the tissue are washed out of the container during the process. The use of a plurality of parts when preparing the samples for the process does not make the handling easy. In addition there is the danger that the tissue samples are washed out of the container if no covers are used for example.